Self loading and unloading scraper and method for operating the same



v KNAFP SELF LOADING AND UNLC-Y ING SCRAPER AND METHOD FDR OPERATING THE'SAME Filed March 24, 1922 4 Sheets-Sheet l 1,512,936 1924 n. R. KNAPP SELF LOADING AND UNLOADING SCRAPER AND METEOD FOR OPERATING THE SAME Filed March 24. 1922 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Oct. 28, 3924- D. R. KNAPP saw LOADING AND UNLOADING SCRAPER AND METHOD FOR OPERATING THE SAME Filed March 24 192-2 4 Sheets-Sheet L R b \\E @w k @1 I INVE TOR- M A I iao Patented Oct. 28, 1924.

.i fu'uliso STATES PATENT o-FF 1cE mav'mn 1141131, or PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, assreiuon 'ro ,co-ormTIvE. U'IILITIES-CO.,-INC., or PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, a oonroaa'rxon .or

To fa whom-it may concern: Be' it known that I, Davmll; KNAPP, a citizen ot-the IUnited States, residing .at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia 6 and state .of,;Rennsylvania, have invented certaingnew, and useful Improvements in SelflLo'ading and Unloadin Scrapers and Methods for ,Operating the game, of which the followingis'a specificatio Tliis -ilivention relates to that class of mechan calgdevices employed in mines for transferringlloose. material blasted from the workingffaces inthechambers to the cars in tlidentries, and-more particularly to those scrapersptl at are especially adapted to be draWnbyropes into and out of thin fiat cuttings. in coal mines, but which, of course are workable in seanis of practically any height, and for: removing other material or metals than'coalffrom the mine to thecar or from one place to another.

The present method of removing the loose coal is to; provide means toplace a car adjacent'to-the face and load the same by manual means. In thin veins this is very expensive, .asa considerable amount of hottomfor top will have to be removed to provide. head-room for the operation of the cars and also it is difficult for men to work in 'thesetrestricted places. the result being that this coalis not mined, due to expensive costs.

and considerable production is thereby lost.

It is therefore the principal object of my said invention to first, provide a mechanical device in the form of a scraper that is selfloading and unloading; second to provide a scraper construction that will handle large lumps of material; third, to provide a method of scraper operation that requires the least amount of labor and operating time; and fourth, to provide other certain improvements in construction as will be hereinafter described.

lVith these objects in view, my invention consists of a certain novel construction and operating arrangement as will hereinafter more fully be described and pointed out in the claims, reference being had 'to the ac companying drawing forming part thereof, 50 and in which:

Figure is a view showin the general ar- I sliowingmore in detail the method of hinging the transverse plate; Figures 3, 4 and 5,

sEinnnoAnmo-ANn omioanme scRArER also ma'rnon roaornm'rme THE Application filed March 24, 1922. Serial No. 5 16,5374.

are views showing the operative action of liii' the scraper; Figure 6, a plan view showing the method of operation in starting to load out} a chamber where the working face is a111, Figure 7, an elevation of Figure ,6; Figure 8, a plan view showing the method of oper- 0 ating with a partially cleared face; Figure 9, an elevation'of Figure 8; and FiguresIll);I

and 11, a plan and elevation showinga con-p A venient embodiment of the scraper 'land mechanism as applied to mining operation. imilar numerals of reference refer-1t; similar parts throughout the several views}, and in which the numeral 1 in Figure 1,

i designates substantiallyverticallsi'de plates,

the. relative position beingparallel; Thew numeral2, designates a transverse member s in rigid relationwith the two side plates and disposed at the front end of said side plates.

The numeral 3, designatesa bracin member rigidly fastened to the back insi e end. of the said plates'and disposed diagonally forward and attached to thememberQ inlrigid a relation. t

This construction allows the back end of the scraper to be open, which is important, as it will allow large lumps of materialto v a be conveniently entrapped between the side plates. Should a transverse back brace be used, it would seriously obstruct the mov ment of the scraper into the pile and would tend to push the material backward until the motive power would stall-without attempting to fill the scraper. It is obvious that other bracing members could be used other than as shown, to accomplish this object, for instance bracing members on the bottom could be used or the diagonal members could be placed outside instead of inside, but the constructions shown is a convenient one to express the object.

The numeral 4 designates a transverse plate disposed between the side plates 1 at the bottom and at the rearward end thereof, and is hinged thereto by means of the threaded stud 5 passing thru an aperture in the plate 1 and held in place by means of the nut 6 thereon. This plate 4 serves as a scoop which is arranged to cut into and under the material on the working stroke of the scraper. E

The numeral 7 designates a ropeattaching. means for the plate 4 and consists substantially of an angle riveted to the back end of ioo tached thereto can be adjusted to cause the late to dig to a certain amount. The back ace of said plate 4 is tapered and the edge scarfed, to give it a cutting and shearing action when sliding into a pile of material.

The numeral 10 designates a stop secured .to the rope 8 and ada ted to engage with the guide 9 to limit the ownward travel of the plate 4, the upward travel being limited by the'plate 4 engaging with the diagonal supports 3.

. The numerals 11 and 12designate operating ropes secured to the front bracing member and'terminating with the rope 8 into a common ring 13.

The construction of the side plates 1, is such that the front end is turned outward and backward forming an incomplete cylinder, thereby eliminating? sharp edge, while the back end is tapered ackward and downward to give it a digging action and helping the scraper to stay on the bottom.'

The numeral 15 designates a channel running in a longitudina outside of the plate 1, and the numeral 16 designates rollers attached to the said channel, so that there is formed an anti-friction bearing between the scraper plates and any adjacent obstruction.

The numeral 17 designates a runner positioned on the outside and at the bottom of late 1. This runner protects the nut16 ro'm mechanical injury and serves also to reduce side friction when the scraper is operating against a side wall.

Having described the-various parts of the scraper, its action will be shown in Fi res 3, 4 and 5, in which the numeral 18 e'signates a pile of material to be moved. The numeral 19 designates a tail rope attached to the angle 7 on the transverse plate 4, said rope leading backward around a fixed pulley and thence to the required motive power.

The numeral 20 designates a head ro e attached to the ring 13 and thence to t e aforesaid required motive power, which is substantially a double drum winch, which is so arranged that one drum is free while the other is in operation and vice-verse. Pull on the rope 19 will pull the transverse plate down close to the floor and carry the scraper backward into the pile of material, as shown in Figure 4. This end being open will therefore not meet with resistance, and large lumps of material. can be enclosed between the side plates. It is understoodthat the ropes 8, 11, 12 and 20 are slack. Pull on the rope 20 will first exert effort on rope 8, raising the transverse plate to its direction along the uppermost position and when this is come taut and thef0rward movement of the scra r will be exerted mainly by these ropes. t is understood that the rope 19 is now slack. The resistance of the transverse-- plate 4 entering the coal is greatly reduced y the reason of the tapered and scarfed cutting edge heretofore mentioned. To meet these conditions, I use a method as shown in Figures 6 to 9 inclusive, in which a working chamber is shown. The numeral 21 desighates the working face from which a pile of coal has been blasted down and which govers the floor area across the path of the Y In an operating system for such a scraper, it is highly important that the o crating ropes be kept from 'under the coa otherwise considerable power will be lost in fric-' tion, and that some method of ulley an chorage at the face must be provi ed, other wise time will be lost in digging a path thru the coal to the face in order to set up rops behind the coal when the face is in l, as directly after the coal has been shot down, and also it is desirable that the scraper be kept in 0 ration avoiding time lost in resetting p' ey anchorage.

The numeral 22 designates a pole prop, on one end is fastened the pulley 23 thru which the tail rope 19 is. placed and the prop then thrown on top of t e coal in a corner. The numeral 24 designates a rep to which the other end of the said po e prop is attached-in pivot relation and adapted to position this end of the pole as close to reached, the ropes 11 and 12 will have be- Y thereof as possible. Said pole prop 22 is of sufiicient length to allow the settin of the supportingprop 24 in as clear a oor space as practica The numeral 25 designates a pulley positioned at the opposite side of the room and secured to the roof by means of a support ing pro 26. Said tail rope 10 passes around 1; is pulley and thence to the motive power together with rope 20.

By this means the ropes are free of the coal and a'pulley supporting means is pro- -vided at the face.

The scraper is then operated, cutting a path along the side ri up to the face as close as possible, as hich time the pole prop 22 is discarded or set up in an adjacent -room and the method shown in Figure 8 is a. the coal when the scraper is pulled backward into the coal and loaded out as hereinafter described.

Whilethis operation is taking place the; prop 29carrying the chain 30 is being set: up, and when it is desired to shift the block I 27 to a, new position the prop 28'is taken down, at which time the block 27 will pullnecessity of setting up props behind the coal in a full face is eliminated, and that no manual work is required except for setting up th props 28 in sequence across the face as that part is loaded out.

In Figures 9 and 10, there is disclosed a convenient embodiment of my said invention, and in which the numeral designates a mine car in the entry into which itis desired to transfer the coal from the working face.

of the chamber.

The numeral-36 designates'adouble drum winch set in" a room adjacent the-entry, to

. heretofore descri which the operating ropes 19 and 20 are at-f' tuched. The rope 19 is'led to the winch 36 thru suitable pulleys 37 and 38 and the ro 20 is led thereto thru the pulley 39. T c numeral 40 designates props, the lower edge on which is secured suitable plank 41 acting as a guide or runway for the scraper.

The numeral 42 designates a portable apron or chute reaching from the car to the entrance of the chamber. \Vhen the chamber has been loaded out, the said apron is thrown back out of the way in order'to clear the movement of the cars in the main entry.

When the scra er has obtained its load as iied, the head r0 '20 pulls the scraper ahead and over sai apron 42 allowing the coal to drop into the car;

It is obvious that in case the said runway is Jon and the scraper is operated other than t ru a central path, that the scraper sides will, press hard against the runway ilank 41. This condition is however re- .ieved by the use of the rollers'and the runher I? placed outside of the plate 1.

It will be understood that in a minin operation several chambers adjacent to each other are being worked and that by means of suitablepulleys the operating ropes can be transferred from chamber to chamber as each is worked out. I am aware that other forms of scrapers have been used. but do not know of any that will accomplish the objects as disclosed in this specification.

I do not wish to limit myself-to the exact construction or operation as shown, as it is evident that certain departures can be made therefrom without departing from the spirit andint'ent of my said invention','-but what' claim as new, anddesire to secure by Leta;

ters Patent, is:-

1. A scraper bucket for mine use comprising side plates, bracin means therefore, a scoop member pivoted between said side plates adjacent the material receiving end,

means on each side plate functioning under a filling movement of said scraper to cause the material engaging ,ends of said plates to have a downward digging action, and means for moving said scraper towards and away from the material, said moving means being arranged to hold said scoop substantially horizontal under filling direction movement and to hold said scoo substantially inclined to form a closure or the scraper end under movement in another direction.

. 2. A scraper bucket comprising side plates, bracing means therefore, a scoo) member pivoted between said side plates a jacent the material receiving end, a cutting ed' e 'formed ons'aidscoop, means on each si e plate functioning under a filling movementof said scra )er to cause the material engagingcnds to. ave a downward digging action,-and meansfor moving said scraper towards and awa from the material, said moving means being arranged to hold said scoop substantially horizontal under filling direction movement and to hold said scoop inclined or vertical under movement in another direction to form a closure for the scraper end. Y

3. A scraper bucket comprising side plates, a scoop member pivoted between said side plates adjacent the material receiving end, means on each side plate functioning under a h'llir; movement of said scraper to cause the material engaging ends of said plates to have a downward digging action, means for moving said scraper towards and away from the material, said moving means being arranged to hold said sco'ope substantially" horizontal under filling direction movement and to hold said scoop inclined or vertical under movement in another direction to form a closure for the scraper end, and rigid bracing means between said side plates arranged to provide an unobstructed entrance for material. s i 4. A scraper bucket for mine use, comprising two oppositely arranged side plates each thrusts away from said side plates to said cross-bar, a rear plate pivoted between said side plates and having a rear seal-fed edge tapering outwardly 5 of said 'anged to assu side plates, said'plate being from the rear edges arme a horizontal position durmg a loading operation of said scoop and to assume an upnght position seating against the said brace 10 scraper, and means for sim bars in filled gosition of said u taneously con- In testimony whereof, I have name to this specification in the two subscribing witnesses.

Witnesses:

GEORGE R; Sosrmaooon, ESTHER R-IcKLIN.

signed my presence of DAVID R. KNAPP. 

